


An Appearance of Madness

by vallahwillbemyheaven



Series: King AU [6]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Fighting, M/M, Mind Control, kings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4867616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vallahwillbemyheaven/pseuds/vallahwillbemyheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I should really be calling you puppet."</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Appearance of Madness

Ryan’s people were known for being up to no good; when the war was still ongoing they were known for using dirty tactics when they fought. Ryan tried to keep it under his control the best he could by constantly checking in on his people, making sure they hadn’t messed with borders or weren’t planning a revolt.

Magic users by nature, Ryan’s people weren’t very trusted. Usually, Ryan had armed escorts with him when he went back home, to make sure nothing could be tried against him. No amount of Ryan trying to assure his husbands that he could sense magic could change their minds on that matter.

Ryan put up with it for the most part; it wasn’t all that bad, honestly. His people respected him for the most part and he respected them, so there was rarely a true need for the escorts.

This month, particularly, there had been an unusual amount of activity at the border of the Vache Empire, so it was Ryan’s job as their king to go find out what the hell was happening. Escorts by his side, he set out in a carriage for the three day long journey there.

The journey itself was actually rather boring and Ryan was asleep for at least half of it. Upon his arrival into the capital, however, Ryan was sat up right and proper. People were crowded around the carriage and their faces spoke of nothing out of the ordinary, but Ryan could feel it; there was a slight whirring in the air that spoke of powerful magic.

He was alert, making sure he was cautious and careful. He set up illusion charms to confuse people hoping to do ill-will and he made sure to always have the very escorts he never thought he would need at his side.

It happened on the last day of his visit to the Vache Empire; Ryan had been enjoying breakfast when he felt his consciousness being shoved to the back of his mind. It wasn’t like he had passed out, but instead like he had been possessed. He could hear a chanting buzz in his mind, but it was so faint he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Ryan could still see, but it seemed like a weird and distant feeling to him, like he wasn’t seeing what was truly going on. His arms and legs moved with his consent, he performed magic without his consent, and Ryan could feel himself panicking.

Ryan became aware that he could hear a man talking to him directly. He recognized the voice as a man by the name of Edgar. He had at one point led a revolt again Ryan’s family and was known to be as magically gifted as Ryan was. Ryan wished he could glare at this man.

“Hello, King Ryan. I should really being calling you puppet. That’s what you are after all, a puppet. To be used as I please. For example, I could make you kill,” came the voice, and Ryan felt magic surge through his fingertips and heard the gurgling cries of the armed escorts Geoff had given him. Ryan wanted to scream, but no words came from his mouth.

“I could make you maim someone, as well,” said Edgar and magic came surging through Ryan’s hands again, this time directed at a servant girl who began screaming as blood poured from her eyes.

“But that’s not what this is about, Ryan,” Edgar said, the magic running through Ryan ceasing. “This is about those husbands of yours. Poking their nose into business that isn’t theirs. Pity, isn’t it? We should teach them a lesson, now, shouldn’t we? You see, the Vache Empire has been planning this for months, Ryan. You are no longer our King; merely, you are a pawn we shall dispose of when our plans have come to a close. Our army shall march you straight into Achievement City and you, dear Ryan, are going to destroy it. You are going to destroy it, and you are going to kill each of your husbands. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Ryan wanted to argue, wanted to put up a fight, but the chanting at the back of his skull kept him completely passive to the whims of this man. It was terrifying. If only he could fight back, maybe block out the chanting, he could do something. He knew the chanting had to be some kind of spell, and every spell had a failsafe way to counter it. Ryan just had to find it.

Through his somewhat distanced sight, Ryan could see himself walking to the entrance of the city, where an army had amassed. Without his consent, he got onto the horse leading this army and led them out of the city and towards Achievement City.

It took six days before they arrived, Ryan guessed, six days that Ryan had been trying everything in his power to stop. Everything he tried to block out the voices failed him, and Ryan was running out of options. He couldn’t allowed this to happen. Ryan wanted to scream out a warning to the city as he watched soldiers storm it and set it aflame; Ryan leading the whole thing.

His horse headed straight for the castle, and from what thinking Ryan could do, he wondered if it too was being controlled by magic. The chanting got louder as he got closer to the castle, soldiers running out from it to fight against what Ryan refused to call his forces. All around him, people screamed and houses burned, but apparently, Ryan only had time for the castle. A small population of soldiers followed him, making his path to his husbands clear from other enemies as they themselves engaged them.

The first of his husbands Ryan ran into was Michael, fighting off a horde of soldiers who were already beginning to break into the castle. A sword gleamed in his hand as he struck down soldier after soldier. Michael almost froze at the sight of Ryan riding up, the sword he held dropping from his hand and leaving him open. Ryan wanted to yelled, scream, kick, anything, as he rode past; he barely missed chopping Michael’s head off.

Apparently Edgar or whomever controlled Ryan considered the soldiers to be sufficient enough to kill Michael, because Ryan rode on past. Gavin was the next person he ran into, although it was less of him running into Gavin and more Gavin killing his horse with arrows and wounding Ryan in the leg. Ryan tumbled off his horse and slid across the floor and anger that was not his own coursed through Ryan. He felt magic surge through his fingertips before Gavin was hit in the stomach with ice that struck right through him. Ryan wanted to beg for it to stop now.

He ran across Geoff and Ray next, Geoff holding out a sword to Ryan as he stood in front of a surprisingly defenseless Ray. Geoff had a hard look to his face and Ryan fought every step taken towards the man.

It was all surges of magic and feeling Geoff’s swords hitting a ward put up around Ryan after that. Ryan couldn’t even think enough to see what was happening to Geoff over Edgar’s control, but all he knew was that his magic should have felt drained at this point.

Ryan’s eyes opened to a sunny window and a smoldering town, not in a room he was used to. He jerked up into a sitting position upon realizing the chanting was gone and he could move, and the movement unwittingly jerked Geoff awake. He had fallen asleep with his head in Ryan’s lap.

“Ryan? You all there?” Geoff asked almost immediately, sitting up and away from Ryan, who was watching him through wide eyes.

“What happened, Geoff?” Ryan asked, moving to get out of bed only to find one of his ankles shackled.

“You don’t remember?” Geoff asked, watching Ryan shake his head. “You tried to kill us. Hell, you would have killed us if we hadn’t figured out what was happening to you. Someone was controlling you, Ryan. Led you right into a full on revolt against the city. You would have most definitely killed Gavin if Jack hadn’t had a potion of healing on him.”

Ryan’s eyes widened as the events of the previous day replayed in his head. “How’d you stop it?” he asked hesitantly.

“Gavin and Michael went out into the city where they found a guy surrounded by a whole bunch of wards. Gavin broke through them, killed him, and you just…collapsed. Now the people want answers I can’t give them.”

Ryan nodded his head. “It was Edgar; he staged a revolt against my family when the war was still happening. I think he wanted to control the whole land.”

Geoff nodded his head and bent down to kiss Ryan on the forehead. “I have to go calm down the people before I can even think of letting you out of this room, Ryan, I’m sorry,” Geoff said, a sad look on his face.

Ryan only nodded before lying back on the bed as Geoff walked out. How had Edgar gotten such control over him, anyway? It was terrifying to know the lengths his kingdom would go to for power.

The Vache Empire ended up having a very angry five kings to deal with; they had their trade cut off and they were forced to disband their army for the time being. Ryan had been the one to implement the rules personally and no amount of pleading could stop him. The people and his husbands didn’t blame him for the actions of his kingdom for once, which Ryan was thankful for.

Ryan made a vow to himself that he needed to find a way to make powerful mental blocks on his mind after that incident.


End file.
